Club Sports News

Flames' staff, players to host Recruitment Camp in April

January 23, 2013 | Lynchburg, Va.

Liberty University's hockey teams will host a recruitment camp at the LaHaye Ice Center in conjunction with the April 11 to 14 College for a Weekend.

The Liberty Hockey Recruit Camp gives potential players the opportunity to showcase their skills, experience the athletic environment, and receive feedback from the Flames' coaching staff, allowing for a better perspective on collegiate hockey and greater self-assessment and improvement.

Open to high school and junior college players ages 16 and older, the camp includes four to six hours of ice time with basic instruction from coaches and players and a chance to play in simulated games Thursday and Friday nights and Saturday morning. Selected participants will then join current Flames players in DI, DII, and DIII All-Star games set for Saturday afternoon and night.

"I kept coming back," said Flames freshman forward Paul Ingles, who drove 12 hours from Port Huron, Mich., as a freshman, junior, and senior in high school. "I showed the coaches what I could do and they showed me how I needed to play to make the team. They gave me instruction and told me what I should work on and I tried to incorporate that into my overall game."

Now a regular on the fourth-line rotation of attack, Ingles benefited from the camp experience.

"It helped a lot because, when I started out, I was in one of the lower competition groups, but I was able to watch the DI competition so I had something to shoot for," he said. "When I came back in 11th grade, I started in one of the lower brackets, but played through the camp and I was able to work my way all the way up to the Division I squad."

He also enjoyed meeting future teammates and experiencing campus life at Liberty.

"The sophomore class, who were freshmen last year, took me around campus, so I got a guided tour by actual students," Ingles said. "I went to the cafeteria and shadowed some of their classes. It was a good experience."

He said participating in the camp helped smooth his transition to the rigors of playing hockey at the college level.

"It made it a lot easier because I pretty much knew the guys," Ingles said. "Automatically, I had a friend base because I knew the team. I had four or five acquaintances right off and I could call them by name when I got here. It also put you on more of a disciplined schedule."

To register for this spring's camp, contact Mike Morrison on the Liberty Hockey staff at (434) 592-3957 or email your name, position, date of birth, phone number, current team, and level of play to MjMorrison@liberty.edu. To sign up for College for a Weekend, which allows prospective students to stay on campus, attend a class, and get a sense of what it's like to be a full-time student, visit www.libertycfaw.com or call (800) 543-5317 and ask for the Visitor's Center, which will assist in registration.